KUALA LUMPUR: Palestine lecturer, Dr Fadi M R Albatsh, will be buried in Gaza as requested by his family.
Ambassador of the State of Palestine to Malaysia, Brunei, Thailand, Philippines and Maldives, Datuk Dr Anwar H. Al Agha, said the embassy had started the process of transferring Dr Fadi’s body back to Gaza upon the family’s request.
“We received an official letter from the family in Palestine to follow up on the case and at the same time, they have asked us to bring back Dr Fadi’s body to Gaza, as well as his wife and children.
“Our president, Mahmoud Abbas, has also given clear instruction to help with the process.
“We are pursuing the matter with Malaysian officials and we will coordinate the matter with the Republic of Egypt authorities as well, for the body will pass through Cairo,” he told a press conference at the Selayang Hospital mortuary.
Anwar said the transfer process will take “some time” but they hope to be able to fly the body of Dr Fadi back as soon as possible.
When asked if there could be any difficulty in transferring the body back, he said: “We will not say it is difficult but we need to follow and respect the rules and regulations of the Malaysia and Egypt.”
He also said that the embassy is confident with the Malaysian police in handling the investigation.
Dr Fadi was gunned down outside Idaman Puteri condominium in Setapak while walking to Surau Medan Idaman to lead the Subuh prayer at 6am yesterday.
Meanwhile, Fadi's younger brother, Dr. Rami Al Batsh said his family in Gaza had accepted the former's death.
The 31-year-old man said the process to handle the remains of his brother would be done tomorrow.
Meanwhile, Federal Territories mufti Datuk Dr Zulkifli Mohamad Al-Bakri said he was saddened by the incident and prayed that similar tragedy will not recur.
"He has great character, good at reciting Al-Quran and imam for Terawih prayer for several years.
"I would like to extend my condolence to his family and deeply saddened by the tragedy.
"May Allah give us strength and keep us from such heinous crimes." he said.
Two gunmen were said to have waited for him on their motorcycle. When the assassins spotted him, they fired 10 shots at the 35-year-old victim.
Dr Fadi leaves behind his wife and three children, aged six, four and one.